When Draco comes to, he is alone. His skin is burning and blistered, like his entire body has been branded with the dark mark, yet the one on his arm is still there. Scarred and faded pink against his usually pale skin.
He strains as he attempts to sit up, but manages it anyway.
Looking around, Harry is nowhere to be found. Draco wants to scream or cry, but somehow he only feels numb.
"H-Harry?" he tries, his voice hoarse from the force of whatever residual magic clawed itself out of him. When he doesn't get a response he starts mumbling to himself as he stumbles through the burnt wreck that is the lower floor of their home. "Don't be dead. Potter, I swear to Salazar if you're dead—"
The feeling in his chest is far from new. It's an ache older than their amicable relationship. It's painful and sore like almost everything from the war happens to be. Feels just as much his fault now as it did back then.
As if Harry's heard his spiraling thoughts, their couch, now in ashy tatters shifts and he pokes his head out. His hair is smoking and full of debris, but other than a scratch on his cheek he looks fine.
"Draco?" Harry coughs, pushing himself out of the wreckage of the furniture. "Draco are you okay?"
Draco relaxes once he sees that his husband is okay. Harry comes closer, wrapping his arms around him and Draco gives in to the feeling. His eyes drift shut without him even noticing.
--:--
They've explained it to him a few times, but apparently, all Harry manages to understand is that he's the reason that that idiot of a muggle went after the love of his life.
After the man that they now know to be Timothy Briggs was tossed into the alley like a sack of rubbish, he'd seen Harry apparate away with the boys. It seems that it'd taken less effort for him to look into magic on the dark web than it did for him to just be a decent person. It took even less for him to find interesting stories from squibs and ex-death eaters and other wizards who had run to the muggle world because their families had been murdered during the war. People who blamed Draco and the Malfoys for everything going south.
Harry wants to vomit.
"So," he chokes out, "It's my fault?"
"What?" spits Draco livid.
"All of this...you getting shot. Your magical core being trapped. Our kids are teenagers and they're terrified of leaving our side because they never know if we're going to come back. And here you are, in the hospital again, because your magic being locked up for so long makes both of our magical cores unstable. And it's my fault."
"I beg your fucking pardon?" Draco is standing now, his long limbs elegant in a deep maroon turtle neck and black trousers even with an IV dangling from his left hand. His brow is furrowed angrily, not quite hidden by his tousled hair, as he approaches Harry. "You saved James and Teddy's lives."
"And put yours at risk."
"Potter, I haven't wanted to break your nose in fucking years."
"Hm," Harry says non-committal. "And how does it feel?"
"Nostalgic."
The best he gets from Harry is a sad little smirk and he decides he should change tactics. They've been working on it. The communication and the trauma, but it means they've been much more raw and vulnerable to their emotions. Draco wishes he could say it was a bad thing, but he likes knowing what makes Harry tick. Always has. And he is sure the feeling is mutual.
He walks forward and pulls the still seated man into a hug. Sometimes they both needed the pressure, the heat, the weight, the reassurance that they're both there and breathing and alive.
"I really will break your fucking nose," Draco mutters lovingly into Harry's ear and he's rewarded with a genuine laugh and the feeling of being pulled into his husband's lap.
"No, you won't. It never healed right the last time," says Harry smiling into his collarbone.
"Oh? Is that why it's crooked," Draco asks breezily.
"You know that's why!"
"Can't say I recall."
Harry releases a soft breath that flutters the strands of Draco's hair that's fallen from his short and messily pinned ponytail.
When neither of them has anything else to say the Auror that has joined them in the exam room at St. Mungos clears her throat.
"Is there any new information that either of you have for us? Anything that could be helpful to the DMLE to find any other wizards who may be behind this while the investigation is open for your case?"
When they both assure her that if they knew anything they'd have told her already, she nods and leaves the room, though she spares another weary unconvinced glance at Draco that puts Harry on edge.
"Calm down, Potter, you're going to brew storm clouds or something."
"Oh, piss off," Harry says rolling his eyes as he looks back over towards his husband.
Draco looks fine. The healer had said there were no issues beyond their newly bonded magic trying to connect but not being able to. Draco's magic, terrified and locked away, panicked and attacked exploding into a frenzy of wild heat. Harry's magic on the other hand had reached out to protect him and Draco, and it'd worked! Mostly. They both have minor burns and a few scratches, but they're alive.
"What?" asks Draco, watching him.
"You sure you're alright?"
"Ask me that again and I won't be."
"Draco, I'm serious."
"So am I."
"Draco."
"Harry."
"Why do you have to be so bloody difficult? I'm worried about you!"
"No, you're not! You know I'm fine. I told you I'm fine. The healers said I'm fine. You just want a reason to feel guilty and I'm not going to give you one."
"I'm not trying to—"
"If you want something to focus on, call Weasley. Find out what happened to the two imbeciles we caught before and ask him why the bloody hell is the DMLE trying to place blame on me and my father."
"Ron can't tell me anything about open cases that he's working on."
"You're Harry fucking Potter, saviour of the Wizarding World. Golden Boy of the Ministry," Draco says as if his husband is an idiot. "Find someone who will."
-&-
yo futher muckers
how are ya?
this fic was supposed to be done by the new year and here we are 2 months in with nothing to show for it
i hope you all have a much better year this go round.
see y'all next time
hope y'all enjoyed
black lives matter ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
love y'all 💕
-- angel janeé xoxo 💋
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Favoring The Strong {Drarry}
Fanfiction{Finale to Favoring the Bold | A Family of Favors book 3} Draco and Harry are in love. Touring was fun...mostly and even he and Val were getting along. If only life could be that easy. When Draco's injury turns his life upside down, will their rela...
